Today's networks are based predominantly on Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) technology. Additionally, for various reasons including cost and ease of manufacture, twisted pair cabling has become the predominant physical medium utilized in local area networks employing Ethernet technology. Ethernet utilizing twisted pair is commonly referred to as 10Base-T, 100Base-TX, 1000Base-T, and 10GBase-T, where the number indicates the data rate, “Base” refers to baseband, meaning no modulation of frequency shifting may be employed, and the “T” refers to twisted pair cabling as the transmission medium.
Because of the popularity of Ethernet and twisted pair cabling, an abundance of 10/100/1000/10Gbase-T physical layer equipment exists in the marketplace and in existing networks. Accordingly, when the appropriate infrastructure is available, 10/100/1000/10Gbase-T may be excellent choices for deploying a lost cost network. Conventional Ethernet networks often utilize a shared channel and rely on the Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Carrier Detect (CSMA/CD) protocol to share the channel. In this regard, CSMA/CD may limit data rates and or distances or number of nodes in a network. Consequently, the cost of installing a 10/100/1000/10GBase-T network in an existing multi-tenant or multi-dwelling unit (MTU/MDU) may be prohibitive due to the cost of purchasing and installing switches (or similar devices) and/or twisted pair cabling.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.